more messing with it...found the shift interrupter switch...seems that
when I go in/out of gear, it only moves maybe 1/16 of an inch; or

from here to there (four spaces on the keyboard). the button is
not pushing down far at all. from the worn area in the cradle where the
button is, seems to have never gone much further than that. It looks
like it wants to work because i can manually push it up and down with
my finger until completely pushed down ...no problem. Not sure how far
it is supposed to move up or down.

Thanks again all